Faint notes of guqin roused Wei Wuxian from his sleep.
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Wei Wuxian sat up on his bed, rubbing his eyes. Had Lan Zhan left him to play the guqin?
It was highly unlikely. Ever since they had tied the knot, Lan Zhan had never once left his side at night.
Curious, concerned, Wei Wuxian quietly left the Jingshi to look for Lan Zhan.
Inquiry? Wei Wuxian furrowed his brow once he recognised the melancholic music the closer he approached the Gusu Borders. Why is Lan Zhan playing Inquiry? Whose soul is he trying to find?
Drawing nearer, Wei Wuxian could spot Lan Zhan sitting by the lake, his back ramrod straight, fingers gently plucking the strings of the guqin.
On the rock near Lan Zhan, was a YunmengJiang Sect silver bell.
His YunmengJiang Sect silver bell.
Could it be that Lan Zhan was playing Inquiry for me?
Wei Wuxian's head spun.
The guqin stopped playing. Of all a sudden he heard Lan Zhan called out, "Who's there?!" but Wei Wuxian could not conceal himself in time.
"Wei... Ying?"
Lan Zhan, the Lan Zhan looking at him now, was Lan Zhan of years ago. He was younger, his build slighter, but his eyes seemed older.
Older with the weight of his grief.
Awkwardly Wei Wuxian stepped out from the shadows of the trees.
Lan Zhan froze, and then, to Wei Wuxian's alarm, his eyes began to glisten.
Hurriedly Wei Wuxian darted over and wrapped Lan Zhan into his embrace.
"Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian whispered, desperately wanting Lan Zhan to understand so he would not push him away, "It's me. It's Wei Wuxian. Your Wei Ying. I am here now. You can stop playing Inquiry. You don't have to play Inquiry anymore. I am older because I am from the future, but I am still Wei Ying, your Wei Ying, and I love you, Lan Zhan!"
The way Lan Zhan clutched at him, was eerily similar to that time at Guanyin Temple. Crushing, desperate.
"My... Wei Ying," Lan Zhan repeated.
"Yes!" Wei Wuxian reaffirmed, "Yours! I'm all yours, Lan Zhan. Only yours!"
"You... love me..."
"More than I can ever tell you!" Wei Wuxian said, "More than I can ever show you. Please, Lan Zhan, don't play Inquiry anymore!"
"Wei Ying!"
Lan Zhan's voice was deeper, stronger, absence of the grief he heard barely minutes ago but there was alarm, concern, worry.
Startled, Wei Wuxian snapped his eyes open.
They were back at their darkened Jingshi. It was Lan Zhan, his Lan Zhan in front of him, hair cascading down his shoulders, forehead ribbon gone.
Lan Zhan reached up to wipe Wei Wuxian's tears away, but more kept dripping so in the end Lan Zhan pulled Wei Wuxian to his chest and held him tight as he cried.
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"Wei Ying, it is alright," Lan Zhan was saying. His voice was soothing. "It is just a dream."
"Lan Zhan..." Wei Wuxian sobbed, "Those years I was gone... You were so lonely, so sad..."
"It is only a memory, Wei Ying."
Didn't Lan Zhan utter the same thing to him just awhile back when he himself was affected by the Incense Burner?
"But!"
"Dream or memory, it does not matter, Wei Ying. We are living in the present we are together, we love each other, and that is all that matters."
Wei Wuxian looked at Lan Zhan in disbelief.
"You... You repeated exactly what I told you just now! Lan Zhan, you!"
There was a teasing quirk of Lan Zhan's lips, and Wei Wuxian forgot what he was going to say.
"I will never forget," Lan Zhan leaned forward to plant a chaste kiss on his lips.
"Go to sleep, Wei Ying."
Nodding, yawning, Wei Wuxian pulled Lan Zhan back to bed. Snuggling closer to his husband, Wei Wuxian sleepily murmured,
"Sweet dreams, Lan Zhan."
The incense sticks in the burner crumbled into ashes.
